Shopper Culture

Do You Know What Your Shoppers Want?

Did you know that high quality fresh foods are the #1 reason a consumer goes to a store. Items from the fresh food categories are mostly purchased on every shopping trip. Given the importance these categories, retailers and brands need to better understand how their product selection, prices, placement in the store and displays influences consumers and consumers psychological needs and expectations of fresh foods. 

Did you also know that in our society there are markets that most retailers viewed as food deserts, places where for profit reasons they chose to pay less attention? These markets have limited retailer selections, low income shoppers and tends to receive lower quality products, especially when related to fresh foods. In one particular market, a small retailer, Brown's Super Stores took a chance and invested in the market to better understand the shoppers.

Search + Social, Now Seamless for Shoppers

In an effort to quench an ever-increasing thirst for trending news and content, Twitter and search engine powerhouse, Google, have teamed up to begin providing relevant and trending tweets within Google search results. Through their partnership, they hope to deliver "unique real-time content" to Googlers of the world. 

Bridging search with social itself isn’t a new concept. Services like Yelp, UrbanSpoon, Angie’s List, among many, many others all provide topic-specific search results and recommendations to shoppers based on user reviews. What is significant is that Google, the go-to search engine for about 68% of the US population, will begin to integrate tweets in it’s mobile search results from now on and thus will presumably drive traffic to many a Twitter page. This could be a serious game changer for brands and retailers, especially those less actively engaged on the Twittersphere.

Social Shoppers are Happy Shoppers

One of the many links uncovered by Integer's  trip type research, presented today at the Path to Purchase Institute Shopper Marketing Institute,  was between a shopper's approach to a trip and how they felt about their purchases. E.g., when shoppers thought to bring a friend along they typically felt excited or happy about overspending (figure 1). However, when shoppers go it alone they're more likely to feel guilty or annoyed by the same behavior of buying more than they planned (figure 2).

Trip Types From A Shopper's Perspective

Most trip type analysis is done based on what's purchased. Through proprietary qualitative and quantitative research, Integer looked at trip types from a shopper perspective. What motivated the trip in the first place? What was the mood or mindset? How did they plan and prepare? 

 

At the upcoming Path to Purchase Institute Shopper Marketing Summit (March 16-18), Integer's Sara Manke will be sharing findings and implications from the study.  Attendees will learn:

Breaking the Internet

Recently, a heated debate over the color of a dress nearly broke the internet–and it's not the first time we have seen social media have such massive cultural impact. It is undeniable that social media has become an tremendous force in all our lives. But many forget that it does not just affect your daily lives and relationships but also your shopping habits.

Part 8 of the study by Integer and the CCRRC titled Untangling the Social Web found that the social web is a grocery shopping tool for one in three (36%) social media users—and that it influences on average 27% of their grocery purchases. While the top ten uses of the social web for grocery shopping are largely focused on finding coupons and recipes, the study explores future possibilities. As people's use of the social web evolves it will also impact their shopping.

It's All About Context

As shoppers and consumers become increasingly overwhelmed with commercial messages, the struggle for an authentic brand connection is very real. In addition to the sheer number of marketing communications shoppers see daily, they are equally distracted by the devices at their fingertips. Whether they are checking the latest email blast from their favorite store or checking into their location on Facebook with their mobile phone, the opportunity to switch into the shopping mind-set can happen in an instant. But being contextually relevant in that instant is a tough nut to crack.

Tinder, a location-based dating app, is currently opening its doors to go beyond just dating and serve as a vehicle to allow brands and marketers to engage consumers in contextually relevant ways.

A Look Back at Shopper Culture 2014

As the new year begins we often look back on the past, make goals for the future and share our thoughts with those around us. The same goes for us here at Shopper Culture.

A lot happened this year in the world of shopping culture and we've enjoyed covering it in blog posts, on Twitter, Pinterest, at conferences, and through our many publications. From Instacart and Apple Pay to Share a Coke and Walmart Care Clinics the shopping environment continues to evolve and adapt to new shopping habits and technologies.

In case you missed it, here are some of the publication highlights from shopper culture 2014:

How Are Hispanic Shoppers and Retailers Operating in a Walmart World?

Today, there are over 50 million Hispanics in America. That translates to one in six Americans—an increase of 43% since 2000. And this growing population has a similarly large purchasing power making for a large, diverse shopping culture.

Comprised of both older, traditional shoppers who opt for local/regional Hispanic grocers and younger, bicultural shoppers who embrace larger American chains; the Hispanic shopping culture has its nuances.

We wonder; as this community continues to grow and evolve will their shopping habits evolve as well? For instance, will they continue to shop at Hispanic grocers or transition completely to price-driven national retailers like Walmart?

Knowing that Walmart currently draws a large Hispanic shopper base, Shopper Culture wanted to investigate how today’s Hispanic grocers are competing in a price driven, Walmart world.

An interview with Juvenal Chavez, founder and chairman of the board for Mi Pueblo Food Center, shed some light on today’s Hispanic shopper and what it is like for regional Hispanic grocers to compete with larger price-driven chains.

How Bad is Survey Data? For Mobile Video, Really Bad

Wow. Nielsen recently compared their survey data with actual usage data to measure quarterly video viewing on phones & tablets. 

According to the survey data, people watched 5 hours 23 minutes of video in Q4 2013. According to the Electronic Mobile Measurement tool (which measures actual mobile usage), people watched 1 hour 23 minutes. That's right, survey data overstates this by something like 500%.

Two quick lessons emerge:

How Are Digital/Mobile Shopping Habits Unique?

Mobile shopping isn't going away: 35% of consumers now say that they make purchases on their mobile phones, and signs point to an increasing rate of growth in coming years. This prevalence also creates responsibilities for brands and retailers. Making a purchase on a mobile device isn't just a different format for commerce, it's a different way of shopping. E.g., the majority of purchases made on smartphones are made within an hour of discovering the product. Younger generations use mobile more to find the best quality item rather than for price checking (66% and 59%, respectively). Succeeding in eCommerce will increasingly become not just about the availability of a retailer/brand on mobile, but delivering on the expectations that come with the format.

To learn more, click here to download the latest issue of The Checkout including how mobile and online shopping are merging, how behaviors differ across age segments, and the persistent divide between shopping at a physical store and online/mobile. Or click here to explore past issues of The Checkout.

In China, The Precision Planner Spends More Money on Fewer Items

The Precision Planner epitomizes the informed Chinese shopper.  He tends to spend more money on fewer items, because he has done the research and focuses on premium brands, product quality, source, and the integrity of ingredients.  

Impulse buys are a foreign concept to him, and he is 233% more likely tan other segments to stray from a purchase simply because he could not find the exact product and brand that he had planned on buying. Sales promoters, bundle-packs, and even free samples aren’t likely to convince him to buy.  He knows what he wants, and will not have it any other way.  To learn better about how to influence his decision making, download the study, Checkout China, here.

Contributed by: Integer Shanghai 

In China, The Experience Lover Spends 10% More per Trip

The Experience Lover is the only segment of Chinese shoppers that spends more than the overall average. The Experience Lover is the most valuable Chinese shopper segment at RMB 12.5 Billion a year.  She spends more time and more money per trip than any other segment, and that’s because shopping is her hobby – and she loves it. It’s both a way of relieving stress and getting her fill of fun for the day. 

She loves promotions, and she’s 14% more likely to stray from her original purchase to another brand that offers a promotion than the other archetypes.

Sensorial effects that combine everything, sight, smell, sound, taste, and feel, provide the key to gaining her patronage, as just under 50% of her purchases are impulse buys. To get to know the Experience Lover, download the study, Checkout China, here.

Contributed by: Integer Shanghai 

In China, Experiential Customers Become the Majority Over Rational Customers

The two experiential shopper archetypes now collectively constitute 54% of China’s Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) category.  A vital reason for the failure of many brands to engage shoppers comes from this disrupting new shift from rational to experiential.  

Traditionally, Chinese shoppers have exhibited rational thought processes and behavior when it comes to spending their money.  However, with increasing disposable income, shoppers require more than just the excitement and functionality of the products they buy. They also want their shopping experience to be entertaining and fulfilling.

This rise in the experiential Chinese shopper is driven by growth of the Experience Lover (27%) and Precision Planner (27%) archetypes and the decline of the Time Saver (25%) and Strategic Spender (21%) archetypes.  Discover the insights about these four Chinese shopper archetypes by downloading the study, Checkout China, here. 

Contributed by: Integer Shanghai 

Missed Connections Between Shoppers and Grocers on the Social Web

It's no surprise that coupons and deals are a big reason for shoppers to follow their supermarket on the social web. In fact, it is the number one reason according to a recent study, Untangling The Social Web Part 8—a study on social media's impact on grocery shopping.

While more and more shoppers that follow their grocer are exploring other benefits including finding out about events, recipes, news and even customer service, there are many that have not even tapped into this connection with their grocer. In fact, the study found that 32 percent of Facebook users, 72 percent of Twitter users, and 79 percent of Pinterest users do not follow their primary grocer on the social web, with top reasons being that it simply "never occurred to them" or that they find that information elsewhere.

How can grocers connect with these shoppers and support these connection with more than coupons? Afterall, shoppers can find those in many places, what can they get from connecting online? 

HOW CAN RETAILERS AND BRANDS TAKE ON THE CHALLENGE OF FEWER BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPERS THIS YEAR?

Building on a trend from last year, in 2014 there will be even fewer shoppers planning to shop for back-to-school products and promotions with 36% of reporting they will not shop for back-to-school this year, up 5% from 31% in 2013. With fewer shoppers to compete for, retailers and brands have to outperform the competition and focus their programs and promotions on the factors that shoppers care about most. Of course, the leading factor is finding the lowest price, but two other factors are growing in importance compared to last year: finding the highest-quality products and having fun while shopping. And these two factors are a bigger opportunity for retailers and brands to truly differentiate themselves and capture more traffic and sales.  

To learn more, click here to download the latest issue of The Checkout including 2014 Back-to-School shopping trends, the growing importance of digital, and the difference in shopper behaviors across ethnic groups. Or click here to explore past issues of The Checkout.